Barcelona Apartments - Akaza Holiday Apartments in Barcelona

Akaza is happy to announce that our short-term apartment bookings have gone up for spring and summer 2010 and with the upcoming end of the year we are now dealing with a lot of bookings. There are a lot of important events Barcelona has to offer next year and therefore it will be rather difficult to obtain a good short-term apartment only few weeks before your arrival. Consequently we would like to recommend you booking an apartment as soon as possible.

If you plan on coming to Barcelona in December we would like to offer you a special discount of 5% for all short-term bookings for the period of December done by Tuesday December 22^nd 2009.

Barcelona is covered in a beautiful Christmas mode in December. Of course this is related to numerous Christmas activities offered throughout the city. Besides the Christmas markets (main one located in front of the Cathedral) that we discussed in our previous newsletter there are a bunch of Christmas attractions you can enjoy. For example if you come with your kids, you can't miss the opportunity to go see Santa Claus. He can be found at the toy department on the 8^th floor of Corte Ingles in Plaza de Catalunya, where you can talk to Santa and take pictures with him. The service is free of charge; the only thing you have to do is to fill out a form with your address where the picture will be sent afterwards, free of charge as wellJ.

Other attractions worth mentioning are on January 5^th and 6^th related with the Three Wise Kings "Reyes Magos". There is a Three Kings Parade on January 5^th when there's Three Kings arriving to the city on a boat to bring gifts for the children of Barcelona. After welcoming the kings, everyone has to go to bed, leaving something for the King's camels to eat by the window. On the morning of the 6th, good children will awake to find the presents the Kings have left for them, and bad children will find a lump of coal.

Moreover, don't miss the opportunity to try the traditional Spanish treat "Chocolate con churros" that can be found at most of the restaurants, tapas bars and Christmas markets throughout the city.

In addition to all this Barcelona offers a possibility of ice-skating. Even though the weather here might not be "Christmassy" at all, some shopping malls install ice-rinks.

La Maquinista installs the biggest outdoor ice-rink in the city (902 248 842, www.lamaquinista.com), whereas Pedralbes Center offers a smaller indoor ice-rink more suitable for children (934 106 821, www.pedralbescentre.com).

If you go the Cathedral Square you can find a stage located at the top of the square which offers Christmas stories that are told by local theater activists followed by children dancing in traditional Catalan dresses. This is a very local celebration therefore the whole ceremony is in Catalan. This is being offered throughout the whole Christmas period.

Another thing highly recommended to do during Christmas in Barcelona is to go and participate in the main midnight mass known as "misa de gallo" on December 24^th at the Cathedral. The mass is in Catalan and it's an experience even for non-Catholic people. When you're already in the Cathedral, don't forget to check out the Nativity in the back of the Cathedral. Nativity plays a crucial role in the Spanish Christmas tradition and is also known as "Pessebre". Other beautiful "Pessebres" can be found in the cathedral of Sagrada Familia, other one at "La Placa Sant Jaume Nativity Scene" (Placa Sant Jaume, 1) or at "La Parroquia de Sant Maria Vianney Nativity" (Melcior de Palau, 56).

Just FYI many of the restaurants are open during Christmas as well as shopping is possible until the midday on December 24^th.

Last but not least, Akaza has welcome a new intern Zuzana Duhanova from Slovakia who will be replacing Fanny Zsoldos from Hungary after 5 months of working for Akaza.